In some jurisdictions, wagering is permitted on certain types of games, e.g., Bingo, lotteries, pull-tabs, is allowed. The types of games may be electronic.
In one scenario, an electronic base game, such as bingo, is provided in which players compete at the same time or with and against each other. A minimum of number of players, e.g., two, is needed. Each player uses a player terminal which is inter-linked, e.g., via an Ethernet network, to a central server. To initiate the play of the game, a player inserts credits or coins, or currency into the player terminal. The coins or currency may be converted into credits. The number of credits are added to a credit meter and displayed on a display screen.
If the game being played is Bingo, the player selects the level of play by pressing a “bet” button to set the wager amount for a bingo card. The player may then initiate the bingo game by pressing a “play” button.
The game is not played or initiated until the required number of players have joined the game. The server, after determining that enough players have entered the game, randomly determines a string of numbers and transmits the numbers to the player terminals. These are daubed, automatically or by the player, onto their card(s).
Each game typically has a plurality of defined interim patterns and a game-ending pattern. As soon, as the string of numbers results in the game ending pattern for one of the players on one of the cards, the bingo game is over and no additional numbers are transmitted. The player(s) who have achieved one of the interim patterns and/or the game-ending or winning pattern is awarded a payout, in terms of credits, according to a pay table which may be traded in for cash.
The base game need not be bingo and may not require that the players are playing against each other.
In order to maintain or increase player interest in the game, however, it is common to provide additional features or bonus games. These features or bonus games may be provided individually or communally. In a community game one of the issues presented is how to account for different rates of play of the individual players.
The present invention is aimed at one or more of the problems identified above.